I

Waves are all around us, all the time. They are always changing and moving up and down. Waves are ways "of transferring energy from one place to another without transferring matter." This happens when there is a disturbance of a particle. This means that the waves are constantly moving, though the waves don’t actually transfer matter, but rather energy.

Mechanical waves are waves that require a medium in order to do their job. This medium might be water, a slinky, or a number of other things. This medium is not the actual wave itself, and it doesn’t create the wave either. It merely is a vehicle for the wave. The medium doesn’t have any displacement. The waves in an ocean don’t actually all move up onto the beach, otherwise there wouldn’t be any water left in the center of the sea. In the same way, in a wave in a stadium the fans don’t get up out of their seats and move around, but instead they merely stand up and sit back down in their original position. The particles of a wave are “temporarily displaced,” but they quickly return to their original equilibrium position.

Transverse waves are waves “in which the vibrations of the particles or medium in which the wave travels are at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels.” The most popular example of such waves is water waves. In contrast to this, longitudinal waves have a displacement that “is parallel to the direction of travel,” for example, sound waves.

Transverse waves also have points called crests and troughs. The higher parts of the wave are crests, while the lower parts are considered troughs. The wavelength of a transverse wave is the distance between two consecutive troughs, or two consecutive crests. The amplitude is the height from equilibrium to the crests. Waves constantly are continuing to move from crest to trough, and back again.

II

In Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, the main character, Jean Valjean, has a life that is full of triumphs and disappointments. He starts out the book as a convict and, though he turns his life around early on, he is stilled pursued his entire life. Valjean continues to suffer through a rollercoaster of emotion his whole life, going from joy to despair and back again. He endures through it all, though, and leads a meaningful life despite his difficulties.

Specifically, towards the end of the novel we can see this, when Valjean’s daughter gets married off to a good man. This is a high for Valjean, who is happy for his daughter. But soon after, Valjean slips into another low in life when his son-in-law throws him out of the house after finding out about Valjean’s past. After just a short period of time, though, his daughter and her husband come back to Valjean, begging for forgiveness, after learning the whole truth about his benevolent past. This whirlwind of emotion is too much for the old, sickly Valjean, and he goes up to heaven soon after. But for Valjean, death isn’t something to be feared, but rather it was a welcome escape after such a rollercoaster of a life.

This never-ending series of highs and lows throughout Valjean’s life wore him out completely. His life kept transitioning from happiness to sorrow, and back again, and this cycle never stopped. If his life had merely been one of only joy, or only sadness it may have been bearable. But instead, as soon as Valjean began to remember the feeling of happiness, he was immediately reminded yet again of the sorrows of life. And almost immediately, Valjean would yet again be lifted up to joy, only to be torn down yet again.

No one can entirely avoid this endless cycle of joy and despair. But, though it may seem overwhelming at times, you have to just keep going through it all. God wouldn’t throw at you more than He knew you could handle. So if He knows you’re strong enough, you are. And if you don’t like the way life is treating you, just wait for a little bit, and soon enough you will come to another high point.

Since starting high school I have realized that even I can't escape this tiring cycle. Specifically, my relationship with one of my good friends is full of the same ups and downs that Valjean's suffers through. One day we will be like best friends, talking all the time, and the next we will be almost enemies, ignoring each other over nothing. Then we'll beg for forgiveness and the endless spiral of happiness and anger will begin again. Some people call this a love-hate relationship, but I prefer to think of it just as the cycle of joy and despair that most relationships go through at one time or another. My friend and I merely seem to go through this “loop,” as he likes to call it, every day rather than just once in a while like most people. Though this recurring, unstoppable process of highs and lows has been stressful, I've come to realize that I'll be able to get through all it with God's help, because He would never put me through more ups and downs than I could handle.

III


In both life and in waves, there are continuous ups and downs that you must endure. Continually you move from high point to low point and back again, never staying at one point for very long. Everything is constantly changing, and never consistent, but you can rest easy knowing that it will even out to equilibrium in the end.

Despite the difficulties and triumphs life throws at you, just like a wave you must continue to plod along, and know that it’ll work itself out. A wave never gives up until it finishes its job of transferring energy, and similarly we can’t just stop and give up in the middle of life. Though the constant rollercoaster of life that you go through, you just have to keep going, despite how it is wearing you down. A wave never gives up despite its continuous crests and troughs, and neither should we.

Works Cited
“The Nature of a Wave.” The Physics Classroom. Compadre, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013
“Basic Wave Theory.” Pass My Exams.
Hugo, Victor. Les Misérables. New York: Signet Classic, 1987. Print.